'AI' or artificial intelligence just means what the computer can do

By Sam Asano

Friday

Mar 9, 2018 at 12:19 PMMar 9, 2018 at 12:19 PM

I have a coffee in the morning around 8 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at a Ceres Bakery in Portsmouth, N.H., a neighborhood coffee shop where regulars come and go and discuss various issues of the time. I was reading a newspaper when an elderly gentleman tapped my shoulder. He said he recognized my face from my weekly article in Portsmouth Herald. He wondered if he could ask a question.

I said to him: “Yes go ahead, but you are taking a chance. Chances are that I may not know the right answer.” He sat down next to me and said the following: “I was a mechanical engineer back a long time ago and am retired also for a long time. But, I am still interested in knowing the progress of my associated field. I often hear the young people discuss things rather loudly and hear the word 'AI' in their conversations. Could you explain to me what that AI is?"

I said to him that I am not an expert. But, from my position of being an ESL (English as Second Language) person, I pay attention to the definition of the word in use in the conversation. I rely on Google to first reach the first-hand access of the meaning of the word, and if necessary I will go on to Wikipedia and other internet postings. I also know that today’s American youth may be very busy using text messages to friends, but I am afraid their interest is not focused on accuracy of the English language.

I said to him AI stands for artificial intelligence. However, I would best explain the background of what we call a buzzword such as AI. Then, I can assure you that you’d feel satisfied, relaxed and better.

He looked at me puzzled. I said it would take only less than 10 minutes to go over the issues. He said, “Go ahead, I have all day.”

My first question to him was: "Do you know what 'Intelligence' means? Its definition?" He thought a while silently, and he said: “I better not say anything now that this sounds like a serious session.”

I quoted Wikipedia on intelligence from my cellphone to him. Here it is verbatim:

“Wall Street Journal signed by fifty-two researchers (out of 131 totals invited to sign): A very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience. It is not merely book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather, it reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings — "catching on," "making sense" of things, or "figuring out" what to do.

"Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns" (1995), a report published by the Board of Scientific Affairs of the American Psychological Association, said this:

Individuals differ from one another in their ability to understand complex ideas, to adapt effectively to the environment, to learn from experience, to engage in various forms of reasoning, to overcome obstacles by taking thought. Although these individual differences can be substantial, they are never entirely consistent: a given person's intellectual performance will vary on different occasions, in different domains, as judged by different criteria. Concepts of "intelligence" are attempts to clarify and organize this complex set of phenomena. Although considerable clarity has been achieved in some areas, no such conceptualization has yet answered all the important questions, and none commands universal assent. Indeed, when two dozen prominent theorists were recently asked to define intelligence, they gave two dozen, somewhat different, definitions.

I believe the statement by American Psychological Association above sounds like a reasonable conclusion that the exact definition of intelligence does not exist.

Then I asked this elderly gentleman if he is in accord with the content of my presentation. He said “Yes, but I didn’t ask for the definition of intelligence. I asked for the meaning of AI.”

OK, was my reply. The word AI is a terminology of semi-buzzword to impress people who are outside of the field as well as expression of the activities the computers do, which had not had a correct word for the category. Namely that AI is truly an artificially made up word — please allow my pun. Computers at this technological level are never able to exceed human intelligence. Therefore, the word AI just means what computer can do. The word AI sounds sophisticated, but it is a simple (yes, very simple) expression of what computers do.

From now on the public will be exposed to see the word AI all over the place. Engineering and scientific magazines, hobbyist magazines, weekly general interest magazines, daily newspapers, government publications and internet websites. Personally I receive some 20 publications, paid or unpaid. They are now filled with word AI. It is now fashionable to say AI. But, now you know what it is.

This gentleman thought a while and thanked me for my time. His parting words were: "Gee, I now understand but it is a bit disappointing. I had thought that AI was something futuristic like a sci-fi film."

I have this pet peeve against people who create buzzwords for something simple so that they can shroud or place distance between their activity as something complex and beyond reach and comprehension of the public. There should be some control against jargon generation. But, I know I can’t win.

Shintaro “Sam” Asano was named by MIT in 2011 as one of the top 10 most influential inventors of the 20th century. He lives on the seacoast of New Hampshire with his dog Sophie. You can write to Sam at sasano@americaninventioninstitute

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